Collaborative Research: HNDS-I: Digitally Accountable Public Representation

担任领导职务的人使用互联网与相关的公众群体进行沟通。他们可以激励人们在社区做好事，应对紧急情况，并为许多不同的群体发声。但是，就像普通用户一样，公众人物在以安全和有益的方式使用互联网时也会面临挑战。他们在线交流的各个方面，例如他们是否容易联系，诚实，快速响应，对他们的角色都很重要。该项目构建了一个数据库，其中包含有关公共精英如何在社交媒体和其他公共在线论坛上做出反应的信息。它包括那些在国家和州一级以及美国最大城市担任领导职务的人，并涵盖他们在许多不同网站上的帖子。该数据库对于研究公共领导力和沟通的研究人员、想要了解不同在线沟通方法的公共领导者以及在线关注公众人物的记者来说非常重要。该数据库还为互联网公司提供了与公众精英在线交流的信息。该项目汇集了一个关于美国知名公众人物在各种在线平台上的公开在线讨论的数据库。这些数据被用来衡量公众人物在社会中的重要角色。透明度、响应性和可访问性是可以用这些措施评估的在线行为的一些方面。研究人员使用实验方法来确定在线交流与精英回应之间的关系。 需要问的一些问题包括：当选举接近时，公众人物是否更有可能迅速回应评论？当他们所代表的地区出现健康和/或安全威胁时，公众人物如何迅速通知他们的追随者？该项目提供数据，工具和说明性研究，以帮助许多不同类型的用户了解知名公众人物如何在线参与。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

People who occupy leadership positions use the internet to communicate with relevant segments of the public. They can inspire people to do good in their communities, respond to emergencies, and give voice to many different groups. But, just like regular users, public figures can face challenges in using the internet in a way that is safe and helpful. Aspects of their online communications, such as if they are easy to reach, honest, and quick to respond, are all important for their roles. This project constructs a database that contains information about how public elites respond on social media and other public online forums. It includes those in leadership roles at the national and state levels, and in the largest U.S. cities, and covers their posts on many different websites. The database is important for researchers studying public leadership and communication, public leaders who want to understand different approaches to online communication, and journalists who follow public figures online. The database also provides internet companies with information about online communication with and by public elites.This project assembles a database about public online discussions with prominent public figures in the U.S. across a variety of online platforms. These data are used to create measures of public figures' positions relevant to their prominent roles in society. Transparency, responsiveness, and accessibility are some of the aspects of online behavior that can be evaluated with these measures. The investigators use an experimental approach to determine the relationship between online communications and elites' responses. Some questions to be asked include: Are public figures more likely to respond quickly to comments when elections are close? When health and/or security threats emerge in the areas they represent, how quickly do public figures work to inform their followers? This project provides data, tools, and illustrative research to help many different types of users understand how prominent public figures engage online. Software for data analysis is also made available so others can analyze similar data.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.